Stories from Tuesday, June 13, 1995

Three charity organizations in Southeast Missouri that have come to the aid of area flood victims received a timely shipment of food Monday from Feed the Children. The Oklahoma City-based charitable organization called Red Star Baptist Church and asked if the area needed emergency relief supplies in the wake of the 1995 flood...

The U.S. Coast Guard in St. Louis gave the green light for Mississippi barge traffic to resume travel on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., at a release rate of one vessel per hour. The Coast Guard opened up the Mississippi to barge traffic heading north from Cairo at 10:30 a.m. Monday...

Last Thursday's thunderstorm in Cape Girardeau took its toll on many stately trees. Now clean-up efforts are exacting a cost on city streets That's because city street crews have been busy picking up branches throughout town since Thursday night's storm, and every other type of street maintenance has been placed on the back burner...

America is one big wigwam these days. Disney, that Big Mouse of a media giant, is invading our lives again with "Pocahontas." The full-length cartoon hasn't even reached movie theaters, and already this Indian has conquered America. Sitting Bull never had this kind of publicity even after he wiped out Custer and joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show...

CITY taxpayers have paid out to the golf course enough money already to buy it three or four times. Mayor Spradling is all wrong. BLESS THAT person who called in and saw the light and said they'd never vote for the Republican ticket again. They want to hack Medicare. They want to hack the benefits for the poor. They're against everything. The Republican party is really showing its true colors. God help us if we get a Republican president to go with that Congress...

Edna Lucille Jackson, 85, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, June 12, 1995, at the Cape Girardeau Nursing Center. Arrangements are incomplete at Ford & Sons Funeral Home.

Tuesday, June 13 7:30 p.m. Action Items Public hearing on approval of a proposed school district budget for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Accept the June 30, 1994, school district audit prepared by Hendrix, Schwab, Garner, Schermann & Co., P.C. Appoint a school district auditor for the 1995-96 fiscal year. Present auditor is Jerry Schwab...

GRAND TOWER, Ill. -- Mike Clover, 46, of Grand Tower, died Monday, June 12, 1996, at Memorial Hospital in Carbondale. He was born Sept. 28, 1948, in Grand Tower, son of Harvey and Essie Mezo Clover. He and Sondra Wright were married July 15, 1967, at Ware...

ANNA, Ill. -- Leota D. Swafford, 68, of Anna, died Monday, June 12, 1995, at Jonesboro Nursing Center. She was born July 13, 1926, in Cobden, daughter of Francis and Jessie Mae Hunsaker Miller Hartline. Swafford was retired from Clyde L. Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna. She attended Faith Christian Fellowship Church...

MARBLE HILL -- Robert William Thompson, 49, of Marble Hill, died Monday, June 12, 1995, at his home. He was born May 29, 1946, in Mattoon, Ill., son of Robert Leon and Ella Marie Wilson Thompson. He and Cathy L. Mayfield were married March 28, 1975...

EAST PRAIRIE -- Funeral service for Mamie Ledbetter of East Prairie will be held at 11 a.m. today at Shelby Funeral Chapel. Burl Britt will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery. Ledbetter, 84, died Friday, June 9, 1995, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston...

SIKESTON -- Barbara Sue McDonald, 59, of Sikeston, died Sunday, June 11, 1995, at her home. She was born Dec. 27, 1935, in Sikeston, daughter of Claude and Gladys Turner Bonifield. She and Dean L. McDonald were married Nov. 26, 1956. McDonald was a 1954 graduate of Sikeston High School. She lived in Elkhart, Ind., from 1955-75. She had been a telephone operator several years, operated a video store, and had been a hostess at Eagles Aerie 3319. She was a member of the Eagles Auxiliary...

DEXTER -- Eva Culbertson, 87, of Dexter, died Sunday, June 11, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Aug. 25, 1907, in Downey, Calif., daughter of Ben Everett and Mattie Ralph Hart. She and Frank Culbertson were married Aug. 7, 1925, in Oroville, Calif. He died Aug. 2, 1961...

PERRYVILLE -- Funeral mass for Wilbur Francis Ruessler of Perryville will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Highland. The Rev. Robert Brockland will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery. Friends may call at Young and Sons Funeral Chapel from 6:30-9:30 a.m. today...

Funeral service for Willie Elmer Goodrum was held Friday at H.S. Smith Funeral Home in Caruthersville, with Dr. Paul Currie officiating. Burial was in Maple Cemetery. Goodrum, 85, died Wednesday, June 7, 1995, at Heartland Care and Rehab Center. He was born Oct. 5, 1909, at Shade Switch, son of George and Winnie Warren Goodrum. He and Alice Austin were married May 16, 1931, in Blytheville, Ark. She died July 3, 1961...

ADVANCE -- Ben VanGennip, 75, of Advance, died Sunday, June 11, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born July 30, 1919, at Dongola, son of John and Maude Sample VanGennip. He and Geneva Robison were married Oct. 23, 1949, in Piggott, Ark...

Funeral service for William E. Harris of Hot Springs Village, Ark., will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Caruth Village Funeral Chapel there, with the Rev. Samuel Pope officiating. Harris, 70, died Saturday, June 10, 1995, in a hospital there. He was born June 23, 1924, in Prattsville, Ark., son of Elmer and Elsie Harris. He first married Nedra Wright, who preceded him in death...

A 15-minute power outage left much of downtown Cape Girardeau without electricity just before noon Monday. Dave Goehring, service supervisor for Union Electric, said the outage was a result of storm damage that went undiscovered until Monday morning. A primary wire was found hanging by a strand near the floodwall on Water Street...

May 1995 has gone into history as a very unhappy month for the tens of millions of seniors in this country. Both houses of Congress voted to slash huge sums from future expenditures on Medicare and also to downgrade the cost-of-living raises on Social Security so we'll get less money as inflation rises. Only strong resistance from all of us can possibly weaken the terrible impact of this heavy blow when the final budget bill becomes law...

One of the biggest and best-financed lobbying organizations, the one that represents some 33 million Americans age 50 or older, is being asked to explain some of its operations to the Senate Finance Committee in hearings scheduled to start today. Among the areas of questioning will be the American Association of Retired Persons' multimillion-dollar business enterprises and its not-for-profit tax status...

The sign outside Cape Girardeau Central High School used a line from the movie "Forrest Gump" to sum up feelings about summer. Mike Redfern taught algebra during summer session at Cape Girardeau Central High School Monday. Jill Pinkston got ready to read a book to her kindergarten summer class at Franklin Elementary School Monday...

Whenever folks get involved in their community, the motivation generally is to make where they live a better place. And there is a great deal of satisfaction that comes from making the effort to help others by sharing skills, time and effort. Most volunteers don't contribute all those hours for the recognition, but it is certainly appropriate and worthwhile to honor the many individuals and organizations who make volunteer organizations effective...

JACKSON -- The Jackson Municipal Band, under the direction of assistant conductor Pat Schwent, will present its weekly concert at 8 p.m. Thursday in Jackson City Park. Special guests will be the mother-daughter team of Marilee and Christy Roethemeyer...

Members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education earned Tiger Pride cards at Monday's board meeting because they were good listeners. The recognition also illustrated how a new incentive program at Central High School works. The program, called Renaissance, involves incentives and recognition programs for students, staff members and school patrons...

Two Cape Girardeau city councilmen say the airport restaurant is a money loser and should be grounded permanently. Both Councilmen Richard Eggimann and Tom Neumeyer said the $122,000 budgeted for operation of the Runway Restaurant & Lounge for fiscal 1996 could be put to better use...

Robert W. Foster plans to retire within a year as executive director of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, ending a nearly 30-year involvement with the Cape Girardeau university. The announcement was made at a private meeting of the foundation board late last week...

Rebecca Ann Lewis has been awarded a Union Pacific Railroad Affirmative Action Scholarship to attend Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She also earned the Creighton University Linn Scholarship in recognition of academic excellence in high school and the Creighton University Dean's Leadership Award...

The Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau West Rotary clubs have selected two students to attend the World Affairs Seminar. Brianna Nicholson and Casey Cook have been chosen to attend June 11-16 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Nicholson is the daughter of Gerald and Cathy Nicholson of Cape Girardeau and will be a senior at Central High School. She is sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club...

Erin Patricia Riches has been named recipient of a Bellingrath Scholarship, one of the four most prestigious scholarships Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., awards each year. Approximately 700 students were nominated for the scholarships, which cover full tuition and room and board for four years. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic record, leadership, character and personal achievements...

Southwest Missouri State University has released the names of students who were on the spring 1995 semester honor roll. Those students from Cape County are: Cape Girardeau: Lance Lafont, Steven Logel, Christy Wetzel. Jackson: Cara Humes, Jenni Reisenbichler, Seth Webb...

Brad Leuckel of Perryville has been named a winner of a George D. Smith Scholarship in a competition offered by the UPS Foundation. The UPS Foundation, which is supported through grants from United Parcel Service, awarded 30 such scholarships nationwide this year to children of UPS employees. The scholarships, which range up to $2,000 annually, are for students who plan to enter accredited vocational or technical school, community college or junior college programs of two years or less...

Bethany Christine Moll graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from the University of Missouri-Columbia recently. She was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society as well as being chosen for membership in the honors educational association, Pi Lambda Theta...

Angela Jo Tanner has graduated magna cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She received a bachelor of science degree in occupational therapy. Tanner was also selected as a member of Alpha Eta, a national honor society for students in health-related professions...

The Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau is sponsoring a reading and literacy program for families and children called "Literacy: Key to Discovery." During June, July and August, events are planned to stress the importance of reading. The programs are free, but pre-registration is needed for each...

Paul Cairns was recently named to the Dean's List at Tulane University in New Orleans for achieving above a 3.5 grade point for both semesters of his junior year. He is a 1992 graduate of Cape Central High School and is the son of Richard and Lynne Cairns...

Staci Lynn Huey was named to the Dean's List at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Ohio. Students must earn between a 3.5 and 3.99 grade point average and enroll in a minimum of 12 hours with no grade lower than a C to be named to the Dean's List. She is the daughter of Charles and Judy Huey of Cape Girardeau...

Jane Hyatt Thorpe graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. with a bachelor of arts degree. She earned her degree in American history with a certificate in American studies. Thorpe is a 1991 graduate of Cape Central High School and is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William P. Thorpe...

Amanda Fischer has been awarded the Academic Excellence Scholarship from the University of Mississippi. This scholarship is awarded to student who score 3031 on the ACT. She also received an Honors Program Scholarship. She is one of 25 freshmen selected to participate in the early entry program in the university's school of pharmacy...